1. Field of the Invention
The invention disclosed broadly relates to the field of electronic commerce and more particularly to a system and related tools for the secure delivery and rights management of digital assets, such as print media, films, games, and music over broadcast-based systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of global distribution systems such as the Internet for distribution of digital assets such as music, film, computer programs, pictures, games and other content continues to grow. At the same time owners and publishers of valuable digital content have been slow to embrace the use of the Internet for distribution of digital assets for several reasons. One reason is that owners are afraid of unauthorized copying or pirating of digital content. The electronic delivery of digital content removes several barriers to pirating. One barrier that is removed with electronic distribution is the requirement of the tangible recordable medium itself (e.g., diskettes or CD ROMs). It costs money to copy digital content on to tangible media, albeit, in many cases less than a dollar for a blank tape or recordable CD. However, in the case of electronic distribution, the tangible medium is no longer needed. The cost of the tangible medium is not a factor because content is distributed electronically. A second barrier, is the format of the content itself, that is, how the content stored in an analog format or a digital format. Content stored in an analog format, for example, a printed picture, when reproduced by photocopying, the copy is of lesser quality than the original. Each subsequent copy of a copy, sometimes called a generation, is of less quality than the original. This degradation in quality is not present when a picture is stored digitally. Each copy, and every generation of copies can be as clear and crisp as the original. The aggregate effect of perfect digital copies combined with the very low cost to distribute content electronically and to distribute content widely over the Internet makes it relatively easy to pirate and distribute unauthorized copies. With a couple of keystrokes, a pirate can send hundreds or even of thousands of perfect copies of digital content over the Internet. Therefore a need exists to ensure the protection and security of digital assets distributed electronically.
Providers of digital content desire to establish a secure, global distribution system for digital content that protects the rights of content owners. The problems with establishing a digital content distribution system includes developing systems for digital content electronic distribution, rights management, and asset protection. Digital content that is distributed electronically includes content such as print media, films, games, programs, television, multimedia, and music.
One secure electronic system is described in the co-pending application Ser. No. 09/133,519, filed Aug. 13, 1998 by Edgar DOWNS et al. for xe2x80x9cCONTENT DELIVERY SYSTEMxe2x80x9d which is commonly assigned herewith to IBM and is incorporated by reference in its entirely.
One electronic distribution system available today is from N2K Corporation at online URL www.n2k.com known as Music Boulevard. The electronic distribution of digital content, specifically music titles from this site uses ftp (file transfer protocol) in the context of the Internet through POTS (plain old telephone systems) and cable services. The distribution of digital content over limited bandwidth transmission channels such as the Internet, although very popular, are not without their shortcoming.
One shortcoming for the distribution of digital content over limited bandwidth transmission channels is the amount of time it takes to download a large amount of content over limited network. For large content such as music and film, the time to download content can be very long. The existing Internet online stores and content repositories that rely on low speed unicast connections in delivering digital content to the client systems. Accordingly, a need exists for a method and a system that combines the convenience and ease of use of the Internet so that it is transparent to existing systems including both the end-user applications and the content repositories, and which utilizes a unicast channel.
Another shortcoming for the distribution of digital content over limited bandwidth transmission channels is the cost associated with higher speed network connections. Many times consumers and end-users of digital content what to chose their mode of delivery. This is analogous to a customer choosing expedited shipping versus normal mail shipping where the cost of the shipping can change depending on the speed of delivery. Therefore, a need exists for a system that can downloaded digital content over both broadcast channels medium such as cable TV and satellite TV or over the POTS (Plain Old Telephone System) according to the customer""s selection on cost versus delivery time.
Still another shortcoming for the distribution of digital content over limited bandwidth transmission channels is the problem with availability. In all localities the availability of broadcast, cable and faster Internet services may not be available. Accordingly, a need exists for system that can provide and end-user the ability to download content based on the type of connectivity that is transparent to an end-user.
Yet, still another shortcoming for the distribution of digital content over limited bandwidth transmission channels is the problem with reliability. The use of broadcast media an wireless media does not provide the error checking and control as typically found in wired transmissions channels. Providing the ability to a user to select between wire and wireless forms of content delivery must therefore maintain the same degree of reliability. Accordingly, a need exists for system that can provide and end-user the reliability over both wire and wireless types of connectivity that is transparent to the end-user.
Briefly in accordance with the invention, a system for online shopping and/or requesting of digital content, and on-demand download of the selected content over a broadcast medium is presented. Over a typical unicast network connection, the end-user is provided with a user interface for browsing a set of offerings and placing a request or purchase order. The system then schedules the download of the electronically ordered digital content over a satellite or cable broadcast medium. The MPEG-2 standard transport stream for the broadcast transmission of the digital content is one embodiment for this system, that allows the solution to be deployed over virtually all types of digital broadcast systems. The unicast network connection may be utilized as a back channel for retransmission of corrupted data blocks, in a way that reduces the overall download time. The downloaded content is assembled in the host from which the request for download originated, and is presented to the consuming application in a manner that hides the details of the broadcast medium and makes it appear as if it was a typical unicast channel. Thus, the same end-user application and content repository can be used while the actual communication medium may be either the Internet or a broadcast network or a similar infrastructure, based on criteria such as the available type of connectivity, cost, speed, and more.